The Rings of Power: analysis and thoughts so far

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The Rings of Power: analysis and thoughts so far

I don’t claim to know EVERYTHING about the series or even Tolkien’s works. This is meant to be an analysis of some writing choices and what they mean for the story overall. Other references are linked.

Good? Okay, here we go. And yeah, I know I should be focused on other projects right now, but this will be quick. Any other references to other articles/videos will be linked at the bottom.

Lack of Creativity and Use of Familiar Imagery

The more I look at the first two episodes of this series, I see the same thing: the show is lacking in creativity and recycles elements and character arcs from the Peter Jackson trilogy – even though the showrunners claimed they wouldn’t allude to it in an attempt to stand out. This is not at all apparent from the first two episodes or promotional videos. They take many creative liberties by not including actual lore from Tolkien’s works, but this is because they didn’t get the rights to any titles other than The Lord of the Ring, The Hobbit, and their appendixes.

I have two thoughts on that: Why go on to create the show if you couldn’t get the rights to the materials you needed? Sounds like there was tension from the very beginning of development if the Tolkien copyright owners didn’t grant them access. Also, Amazon prides itself on claiming that The Rings of Power is the most expensive show ever created for television to date; isn’t that enough to stand out from the rest?

I digress.

Knowing that they only had rights to the most famous Tolkien IP and no connection (apparently) to the original film series, there are still some issues that present themselves when viewed as a stand-alone story.

They use a lot of imagery and story arcs that are familiar to the fans of the films and books, like having an apparent Maiar descend to Middle Earth as a comet and start a relationship with primordial Hobbits. Also, having a young boy uncover an evil artifact that corrupts, attracts evil beings, and has a will of its own. Crazy firework shows, cave troll fights, and sweeping nature shots while Galadriel narrates thousands of years of history that won’t be elaborating on. And finally, how the characters look and sound, down to their supposed backstory. I’m looking at you, Halbrand.

And even though it was sometimes charming, the story isn’t all that complex or compelling, and it isn’t written very well, especially the dialogue in some places. Again, it says that it isn’t connected to the films, but that’s a flat-out lie to anyone who’s grown up with the films and loves them; there are just too many allusions to them.

But, there are some aspects I did enjoy, despite the issues.

What stuck with me – The “Hobbits”

I think thatI think that the Harfoots are charming in their own way and that you can see the cultural similarities of the Shire Hobbits from Lord of the Rings. They love food and value community, even though bickering is common. It’s just a form of Hobbit culture that didn’t know the peace of the Shire and had to avoid “big people” and other predators by camouflaging and migration. To me that makes sense, and it also gives us an understanding of the species that Smeagol and Deagol may have come from.

I can’t help but like “the Stranger’s” storyline with Nori and Poppy. It’s nice to see more diversity in the cast (I don’t care about the controversies surrounding that, nor will I be commenting further on them). Nori looks like Elijah Wood and Poppy is cute and gives some subtle Samwise vibes, but that also calls back to the lack of originality in the story and character designs.

There are theories that the Stranger is Gandalf, and others that he is Sauron. It’s apparent to me that he is one of the Maiar, and that checks boxes for both characters. I don’t know how they will proceed with his character if he is an original creation for the show and not one of the Maiar that Tolkien wrote. All that said, I think the Harfoot children finding him and keeping him a secret from their community is a fine storyline and feels more distinct from the other storylines presented in the show.

Now, here are some things that seem sloppy in comparison.

Girl Power Galadriel

The main one is Galadriel. I was excited when I learned about the show a few years ago and that she would be a focus character. But from her very first moments on screen, she is dipped heavily into the overdone “strong female” stereotype. How disappointing is that? I could see from Episode One that her character has the capacity to avoid being a total Mary Sue, but it isn’t impossible for them to have written her as such as the story progresses. To me, she would be just as cool as the film and book versions if they dialed back on the need to prove herself strong and a leader. By the time the story plot kicks off, she’s supposed to already be established as a strong leader of the elves in Middle Earth. She’s already seen so much happen since the events of her childhood scene in Aman.

The ice troll scene was weak and didn’t create any real stakes for any character that we knew, including Galadriel. She didn’t need to beat up the kids in the childhood scene; why would they bully her anyway? She’s like their princess, right? Again, weak writing there.

She still could look up to Finrod, her brother, but they make it seem like she lives to emulate him and idolizes him from a young age, giving her purpose throughout her life.

This all signifies to me that they are going on the “strong female character/ fighter girl” path when it just isn’t necessary for someone like Galadriel. Also, there isn’t a huge disparity between the genders in the elves’ culture in Tolkien’s works; women were always equal and lauded like the men of the elvish race. It’s just unnecessary and feels like the show was made for people who don’t know anything about Lord of the Rings or the characters.

Is this Fanfiction?

My final thoughtMy final thought on the first two episodes and how the story has set off so far is this: It feels an awful lot like some really expensive and pretty fanfiction that got greenlit by Amazon.

That may well be a very hot take, but I stand by it. I don’t mean offense to everything that is fanfiction; I read a lot of fanfiction and there’s nothing wrong with creating and sharing it. But, not every piece of fanfiction is written well, beta-read, or workshopped by anyone other than the author alone. Anyone online can write fanfiction and lots of people give their interpretations and fantasies of “what if” and “I want to see this happen” to their most beloved characters in books, films, and TV.

It feels just like that. They create new characters to ship and/or clash against well-known and established characters, they change histories and ignore storylines that they don’t find interesting. Fanfiction is written by fans for other fans that have the same hankerings for “what-if” scenes as they do. It isn’t made for a mass audience and nor is that widely taken into account. An Amazon Prime show may cater to a demographic, but is it created for a mass audience so that more people can latch onto the story and characters, hence bringing them into the fandoms and making them money in the process.

Yes, I have some things that I liked about the show, so I’m not sitting here saying that I can’t watch more or that it isn’t entertaining to me. That might mean I have questionable taste to some, but it’s about what you enjoy and the experience of art is subjective. I’ve decided to watch this series with an open mind and no expectations.

Hence, this isn’t really a review, nor do I want to write a review. It’s about what I’m learning from seeing other creative works and their writing. I’m just sharing my opinions, which doesn’t count for much. You might watch the show and think something entirely different. Good for you, that’s totally cool. I stand by what I’ve seen and have taken other people’s reviews into account when writing this. It’s all for the purpose of analyzing the writing and learning from the execution of the whole.

It could get better and I’m willing to see if it does, but they have set a tone by now and that will affect what I think of it going forward.

Signing off for now,

~S.L. Funk

Would you like a full season review like this one? It’s been more than a year since the release of this show and this review, but I’m willing to write more about my thoughts if I have enough people say so.

Leave a comment if you like what I’m doing here and would like to request something for me to write about in the future. Thanks!